July 5, 2009
The Annual SHRM conference is over. While many of my fellow bloggers attended the event, I don’t understand the appeal. What can be achieved from these expensive events? Swag? Listening to other HR professionals complain? Learning the newest quick fix in HR? Networking with people who probably won’t advance your career?
The event might make sense if you’re looking for a job and willing to relocate. But how many other people are there for the same purpose. What is the same likelihood that you’re going to get the value of your dollar out the event? To me it seems slim.
The value to me comes in the local groups. The state conferences might even be worth attending. At least then you’ll be networking with local people and learning new local law and changes.
There’s just something about an expensive work party that doesn’t seem all that great.
4 Comments | 
HR Profession | Tagged: shrm | 
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Posted by Rachel
June 30, 2009
When I first learned about employee assistance programs (EAPs) I was not impressed. I thought it was a token gesture from the company that didn’t result in much. I’ve since changed my mind about the programs.
My aversion to EAP programs came from a lack of education. I also realized that the lack of education surrounding the programs hurts employee usage as well.
There is a strong perception that EAPs are there for counseling (light therapy). Yes, they do that but they also do much more. They also make referrals. In most fields this probably does not mean much to employees. If the employee is focused on the counseling aspect they may think that “referrals” just means passing them off to a therapist. I always give examples outside of counseling to make employees start thinking outside of the box.
The other major issue is confidentiality. It’s not enough to just tell your employees that they are free and confidential services. That phrase rolls off of HR tongues easily but rarely is it explained in depth. I see no reaction when I say these words to employees. However, when I stop to say that our EAP is bound by HIPAA and is considered health information their eyes light up. They suddenly get it and trust in the security of their information.
There are some employees that will never use EAPs and that’s okay. But, it’s a waste of money and employee benefit to not take a moment to explain in detail the advantages of EAPs and follow that with repeated reminders that the service is available and how to reach it.
4 Comments | 
Health and Safety | Tagged: eap, employee assistance program | 
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Posted by Rachel
June 29, 2009
The whole world knows that Michael Jackson died last week. When famous individuals die the media focuses on their “legacy.” Twenty years from now when we look back at Michael Jackson we’ll think three things:
- He made wonderful music that broke racial and style barriers.
- He may have molested children.
- He changed his whole appearance, including his race.
The first is quite the accomplishment. It’s the reason he’s been praised this week despite the other two. Yet, when I spoke to people about Michael’s life the word I kept hearing was tragic.
With so many accomplishments and praise for his work why do we consider him tragic? Because we view the personal as more important than the professional when we analyze a person’s whole life.
Two weeks ago infamous blogger Penelope Trunk wrote about having abortions not to further her career but to avoid conflict with it. Looking back on her life now she acknowledges, “You don’t need to get an abortion to have a big career.”
You may be winning the small battles in your profession but what weight will you give it when you look back on your life? Is the cost of professional success worth the loss of the personal.
3 Comments | 
Real Life | 
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Posted by Rachel
June 22, 2009
There is a business pet peeve of mine that my organization has started working against and I couldn’t be happier. The pet peeve is that there seems to be some myth in the business world that the paint colors in the office have to reflect the business’s logo. It’s branding gone wrong.
The last organization I worked for had three colors in it’s logo: gray, red, white. The walls were all painted one of two shades of gray. All day long I looked at gray. You know what else is gray? Prisons.
Branding is important, but so is the mood of your employees. It doesn’t take that much extra money or work to offer several different colors or at least something other than the logo. Logos don’t change and if they do they rarely change in color. When your employees have to stare at item after item with the same color scheme, it can be maddening to stare at the same color on the wall for 30 years.
Just a little bit of effort for happy employees.
7 Comments | Work Life | Tagged: gray, paint | Permalink
Posted by Rachel
June 17, 2009
I’ve been given an advanced copy of Dave Esler and Myra Kruger’s new book The Pursuit of Something Better. The book details the transformation of U.S. Cellular and it’s CEO Jack Rooney. I’m excited about reading and reviewing the book. We all need to be reminded that positive transformations can take place. We are not resigned to mediocrity.
Book review coming soon…
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: book review | Permalink
Posted by Rachel
June 15, 2009
In the last installment we talked about relationships with coworkers. Now let’s discuss relationships with bosses, supervisors, whatever you want to call them.
You won’t always like your boss. You probably won’t even like half of the bosses you encounter.
In a perfect world your boss would be a kind supportive individual who guides you and allows you to grow. He/she would display all the qualities of a leader. You would look up to him/her and strive to follow in his/her footsteps. You may even be friends; although, some would argue being friends is a bad idea.
The reality is that the boss-subordinate relationship is a forced relationship. Forced does not mean that it is inherently a negative relationship, but that both parties did not mutually agree to the relationship. It’s an arranged marriage of sorts.
That means that you have two individuals who may have very different goals, values, backgrounds, communication styles, ethics, opinions, etc. Differences in these areas can cause conflict. It may be a passive aggressive I’m-going-to-complain-about-you-behind-your-back conflict, but it is still a conflict.
The complaints individuals make about their bosses are always similar. He’s a jerk. She never does any work. He always takes credit for my work. She has mood swings. He’s away from work more than he’s at work. She doesn’t know a thing about XYZ. He’s power hungry.
Some of the complaints may very well be true, but the conflict always comes down to differences in the individuals. If your communication style is vastly different than your boss’s, that will probably cause conflict unless you can learn to mediate the situation.
And that’s what it all comes down to – working together. The good news is that you don’t have to like your boss. It certainly makes things easier if you do but it is not a prerequisite for doing your job well. What you do have to do is learn how to work together. Learn how to avoid having your differences become a disruption. And who knows, maybe you’ll find the next one is worse.
5 Comments | Work Life | Tagged: bosses, Relationships, subordinates, supervisors | Permalink
Posted by Rachel
June 4, 2009
One thing I’ve noticed about the resumes of people who are further in their careers is that they don’t list their Bachelors degrees when they have Master’s degrees or higher. It makes sense, once you complete your Bachelors you’re expected to remove your high school degree from your resume.
I have a Masters degree and yet there on my resume is my irrelevant Bachelors degree. The more I thought about it the more I realized I didn’t have a reason for keeping it on my resume.
My American Studies degree was certainly an accomplishment. However, now that I have a degree in Human Resources and I’m pursuing a career in HR, I doubt anyone cares that I wrote a research paper on The Farm or that I read Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl three times. I could try and argue that my knowledge of American History means I have more knowledge of organized labor but that’s a lie.
Perhaps it was because I acheived the degrees so close together. Or maybe I never thought about it because I had just finished my Masters when I was offered my current job. Or maybe I’m hesistant to remove the last remainant of a life outside of HR.
Is it time to ditch the old?
5 Comments | HR Profession, Recruitment | Tagged: bachelors, degree, higher education, masters, Resumes | Permalink
Posted by Rachel
June 2, 2009
I am officially out in the workplace as a blogger. Hi, ya’ll!
If you have questions or concerns feel free to speak with me in person. I will give you both my comments and the HR viewpoint.
1 Comment | Blogging | Permalink
Posted by Rachel
June 2, 2009
Any good HR pracitioner knows that rewards and recognition should be personalized. Since I focus on so much negative in this blog, I’d like to give a shout out to good behavior.
Today, I walked into work to find that everyone involved in a particular project had been given gifts. Most of the people received hanging flower baskets, but my gift was different. I received reusable shopping bag full of dog treats and toys.
While I rarely have social conversations with this individual she realized how important my dogs are to me. Not only did she give me a gift catered to my “lifestyle” but she also gave me two of everything – remembering that I have two babies. This is even more remarkable because she is not a pet person. She revealed to me that she had brought her daughter (a dog lover) to the store to help her.
That is good rewarding.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: recognition, rewards | Permalink
Posted by Rachel
June 1, 2009
One thing that excited me about hiring for a high level HR position was the opportunity to see the candidates’ cover letters and resumes. I, like you all should be, am constantly looking for ways to improve my own materials. You would expect that HR professionals have some of the best cover letters. I thought that I could learn something from these seasoned veterans.
I was wrong.
It was a disappointment to find that the cover letters and resumes were mediocre. One of the candidates had bragged to me in the past about his/her cover letter. This was the first time I was able to view it and I thought “this is it?!.” There was nothing to brag about.
And then there was the downright ridiculous. One of the cover letters started with:
Congratulations! You have found a qualified, dependable candidate…
This is not a bad way to start your cover letter, it’s a horrible way to start your cover letter. After rolling my eyes I quickly checked to see if the candidate even met the qualifications. Sure enough she/he didn’t. I admit to glancing at the resume – it’s hard to look away from a train wreck.
The first line of the resume was:
Awesome hands-on Training and Teaching experience.
Yep, awesome. Too bad TechRepublic’s article “More Words to Leave Off Your Resume” which features “awesome” as their first word listed didn’t come out until after this person submitted their resume.
I guess it’s just another example of where HR professionals are failing. Why is it so easy to criticize our clueless employees but so difficult to look back at our own careers and see where we’re failing.
8 Comments | HR Profession, Recruitment | Tagged: cover letters, human resources, Resumes | Permalink
Posted by Rachel
